Biggest health fair in the region is this weekend in Parksville

If you are passionate about health and wellness be sure to spend some time at the 20th annual Oceanside Family Health and Wellness Fair this weekend.

It is the biggest health fair in the mid island region and is being held at the Parksville Community and Conference Centre (PCCC) on March 28 and 29

Lisa Leger of Parksville Pharmasave who has worked tirelessly to bring the event to the community said there will be lots of great seminars, exhibits, demonstrations and product sampling and it is free to attend.

“This is the 20th annual. It is an important fair for the community because it allows people to find out about the services we have in this area. People get information but also get to have some fun,” she said.

Every year the fair is stocked with exhibitors, doctors and health professionals from across B.C. and Canada to share what they know about living well.

The public is invited to browse through the exhibitor booths to taste, sample and learn about new health products.

Leger said you can also find out more about health issues that matter to you from health professionals in a number of break-out sessions.

“We have so many really good presenters. We need two days to fit them in. Gary Anaka was really popular last year. He will talk about how to avoid getting into trouble with dementia.”

Leger is also fired up about their Talk to the Doc presentations which she said provides a great opportunity for people who have frustrations with the Oceanside Health Centre.

“Doctors explain from their perspective what is going on in the health system. They answer questions and sometimes it clears the air when people have beefs.”

Leger who is the women’s health educator at Parksville Pharmasave is excited to have Dr. Jerilynn C. Prior, as the keynote speaker on Sunday.

At 2 p.m. she will be presenting information on how to survive and thrive throughout the paradoxes of perimenopause.

The Professor of Endocrinology at the University of British Columbia and Scientific Director of the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research (CeMCOR) is the author of the award winning book Estrogen’s Storm Season–Stories of Perimenopause and The Estrogen Errors–Why Progesterone is Better for Women’s Health.

Leger has admired Dr. Prior for many years and attended a conference at UBC that Dr Prior hosted for the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research; a group they are both members of.

She said women who are beginning or in the midst of their approach to the menopausal years will not want to miss this exceptional opportunity to hear from one of the giants in the field of hormonal health.

Leger said it is a rare opportunity to learn from someone of Dr. Prior’s calibre.

“Dr Prior has generated an impressive body of work over her career at UBC and has influenced the way her colleagues in endocrinology think about progesterone,”

Dr. Prior has spent her career studying menstrual cycles and the effects of the cycles estrogen and progesterone hormones on women`s health.

Her research and synthesis has shown the importance of progesterone as well as estrogen for women’s bone, heart and breast health and that perimenopause is hormonally distinct from menopause.

Dr. Prior has authored over 200 scientific papers and holds six patents. She was awarded the Distinguished Medical Research Lecturer Award in 2002.

Her seminar will review some of the research she has done on natural progesterone and she will share her insights into the particular needs of perimenopausal women.

The Fair March 28 and 29 at the PCCC runs from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday and until 3 p.m. Sunday and admission is free of charge.